About

Kegtron - Bringing Intelligence to Your Kegerator

$16,046

pledged of $7,000 goal

65

backers

What is a prototype?

A prototype is a preliminary model of something. Projects that offer physical products need to show backers documentation of a working prototype. This gallery features photos, videos, and other visual documentation that will give backers a sense of what’s been accomplished so far and what’s left to do. Though the development process can vary for each project, these are the stages we typically see:

Proof of Concept

Explorations that test ideas and functionality.

Functional Prototype

Demonstrates the functionality of the final product, but looks different.

Appearance Prototype

Looks like the final product, but is not functional.

Design Prototype

Appearance and function match the final product, but is made with different manufacturing methods.

Production Prototype

Appearance, function, and manufacturing methods match the final product.

Prototype Gallery

These photos and videos provide a detailed look at this project’s development.

It's All About the Beer

Beer lovers and resellers know that kegs are the ideal way to store and serve beer. Unfortunately, keeping track of what's in those kegs is not so easy. Everyone knows the clumsy routine of keg lifting, shaking and guessing or the dreaded tap blowing foam.

Curse of the Blown Keg

It doesn't have to be this way. You're already carrying a remarkably powerful wireless computer in your pocket. Why not link it to your kegs and add an elegant app to keep track of things?

Fewer Doubts, More Enjoyment

Is your keg is ready to perform when called upon? Will it run out at just the wrong time? Beer anxiety. Tragic, yes, but now there is a cure.

Delivering the Goods

Serving beer should erase stress, not create it. The prescription comes in two doses: simple hardware that sits in your fridge and an app that runs on your phone or tablet. Easy to install, easy to use.

The Hardware

The Kegtron keg monitor is a small box that sits inline between your keg and your tap. An internal flowmeter measures how much liquid has been dispensed while a wireless processor keeps a running tally and communicates with your phone or tablet. Delete your app? Phone die? Lose power? No worries - all of the important stats are saved so nothing is lost.

The keg monitor installs neatly inside your kegerator, keezer or beer cooler. The splash-resistant enclosure is designed for humid and messy environments. There are no clunky external boxes sitting on the bar or next to your taps. The only clue to the smarts inside is a low-voltage wire running discretely to an external wall adapter - no batteries required.

The App

From your phone or tablet, your keg stats are always ready. A clean, intuitive interface gives you the info you need at a glance. No cloud complexity, no user profiles or social frills - just the keg stats you care about.

Want to show off your beer inventory to your friends and guests? Turn a tablet into a live beer chalkboard!

Installation

Since the Kegtron keg monitor is self-contained, setup is a snap. Watch it happen in under 2 minutes:

We know you have better things to do than screw around with WiFi network settings, device pairings or cloud accounts. The Kegtron app makes it simple: download it, set your tap name & keg size and you're ready to serve!

Is Kegtron Right for You?

We know "one size fits all" only applies to hats. That said, we've designed Kegtron to accommodate both simple home kegerators as well as big multi-tap setups. Which one describes you?

Craft beer lover with home kegerator for store-bought kegs

Homebrewer with a DIY multi-tap keezer

Restaurant/bar/cafe owner with a commercial kegerator

If any of these descriptions fit you then we'd love to help you out.

Grow with the Flow

Start small today, grow bigger tomorrow - we have you covered. Both single and dual keg monitors are available to build out your system. Add additional monitors in the future without replacing your existing gear. Here's how we do it:

First, let's start with the hardware. Each keg monitor operates independently, so there are are no worries about running out of capacity. No expansion boxes needed - a single wall adapter supplies power to multiple keg monitors with just a simple fanout cable. A short-range wireless interface let's you access your keg monitors from a distance of 15 – 50′ (5-15m).

On the app side of things, we designed our software to dynamically accommodate an arbitrary number of taps. Our scanning method enables simultaneously monitoring all of your keg monitors without worrying about device connection limits.

Product Development

Kegtron is more than a just a cool idea - it's a working design that has been in development for almost two years and is now in beta. From the beginning we started Kegtron with the express goal of developing a cost-effective, production-ready solution.

While it's more fun to talk about technology and beer, in our view one of the keys to delivering a successful product is the supply chain. To that end, we've spent almost as much time lining up the right suppliers and partners as we have on the actual product engineering.

Custom Fittings - We found that we could save cost, size and assembly time by having our own stainless steel fittings custom built rather than cobble together off-the-shelf components.

High Volume Enclosures - It's not hard to spend tens of thousands of dollars on custom, injection-molded enclosures. We found a better way by leveraging high-volume, lower-cost standard enclosures which have been customized for our application.

Making it all come together takes hard work across many engineering disciplines: mechanical, electrical, firmware and app development. The end result is a patent pending solution that is ready for production - with your help!

Regulatory testing in anechoic chamber

We've taken our time to not push this project out the door until it was ready for prime time. We even performed regulatory compliance testing in advance to ensure shipments would not be delayed. We hope you'll find it was worth the wait!

Rewards

OK, the good stuff!

When choosing your reward, pick the combination that matches the number of kegs you wish to monitor. All keg monitors require power, but since they use very little a single wall adapter can be shared for up to 8 keg monitors.

Each reward will include a power supply (except those outside North America, see below) a 6' / 2m USB power cable and a fanout cable (if needed). Prices above do not include shipping.

Have a tap configuration that is not covered in our rewards? Contact us! We may be able to add a combo that matches your needs.

Fulfillment

Nothing would please us more to get Kegtron into your hands as soon as humanly possible!

International Backers

We are thrilled at the level of interest outside the US! Beer knows no boundaries. Suffice it to say we are excited to support international backers.

PLEASE NOTE: Backers outside the US will be required to pay import fees, duties, VAT and/or GST as required by your home country. These import fees & taxes are not included in the shipping fees collected by Kickstarter. Your local postal service or courier will collect these local fees upon delivery of your reward.

Power Supplies

Backers in North America will receive a single 110VAC USB power adapter with your shipment.

All other backers will need to provide your own +5VDC USB power supply appropriate for your local AC plug type. These are the same inexpensive wall adapters you're already using today to charge your phone - but don't hesitate to ask us for recommendations or advice.

Please take extra care to understand these additional considerations before pledging as a backer. If you have questions, please ask and we'll do our best to answer in a timely fashion.

About Kegtron

Kegtron was founded by Steve Keck in the San Francisco Bay Area where cross-pollination between beer geeks and tech geeks happens regularly. The motivation was simple: combine a love for beer and a love for building hi-tech hardware. Remember "Hey, you got your chocolate in my peanut butter"? It's kind of like that.

And one last thing...

Projects like this only see the light of day with your support. We understand not everyone has kegs, but if you do or know someone who does - pass along the good word and let's make this happen!

Cheers!

Risks and challenges

Having spent the last 22 years designing and bringing complex systems to market we understand the risks involved in a new product launch. Here's our view for Kegtron:

Supply Chain - Delivery and validation of sub-components is critical. We've spent much of the last year pre-qualifying our suppliers so we're ready to hit the ground running.

Regulatory Compliance - Any electronic product requires regulatory approval to sell on the open market. A testing failure can mean long and costly redesigns. We've taken this risk off the table by successfully completing our EMC testing ahead of time.

Software Bugs - While no product is immune to software hiccups, we've made efforts to get a head start through on-site & beta site testing. Should anything slip by, updates will be available via the iOS App Store or Google Play.